Women's basketball: 30 named to midseason Naismith Watch List

In the 50th celebration season of the Citizen Naismith Trophy, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced the Naismith Top 30 players in consideration for the 2018 Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year on Monday. The Pac-12 leads with seven players listed, while the ACC and SEC follow with five each.

Also making the list are Louisville’s dynamic duo Asia Durr and Myisha Hines-Allen. The two led Louisville to a No. 2 ranking inearly January — the highest in the program’s history — thanks to Durr’s 36-point and Hines-Allen’s 31-point performances in a 100-67 win over then-No. 2 Notre Dame. Both players have earned ACC honors multiple times this season and are in position for an ACC title run.

Teaira McCowan of now-No. 2 Mississippi State also makes an appearance, posting five double-doubles so far this season and leading the undefeated Bulldogs to the top of the SEC.

Named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, the creator of the game of basketball, the first Naismith trophy was awarded in 1969 to UCLA’s Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Citizen Naismith Women’s Player of the Year Award was first given to Anne Donovan of Old Dominion University in 1983. Former all-time leading scorer and Washington guard Kelsey Plum is the 2017 Citizen Naismith Trophy winner. The 10 semifinalists will be announced in March.

Name

Class

Position

School

Conference

Kristine Anigwe

Junior

C/F

California

Pac-12

Ariel Atkins

Senior

G

Texas

Big 12

Monique Billings

Senior

F

UCLA

Pac-12

Kalani Brown

Junior

C

Baylor

Big 12

Lexie Brown

Senior

G

Duke

ACC

Jordin Canada

Senior

G

UCLA

Pac-12

Chennedy Carter

Freshman

G

Texas A&M

SEC

Kaila Charles

Sophomore

G

Maryland

Big Ten

Napheesa Collier

Junior

F

UConn

AAC

Sophie Cunningham

Junior

G

Missouri

SEC

Asia Durr

Junior

G

Louisville

ACC

Katelynn Flaherty

Senior

G

Michigan

Big Ten

Marie Gulich

Senior

C

Oregon State

Pac-12

Megan Gustafson

Junior

F

Iowa

Big Ten

Ruthy Hebard

Sophomore

F

Oregon

Pac-12

Myisha Hines-Allen

Senior

F

Louisville

ACC

Sabrina Ionescu

Sophomore

G

Oregon

Pac-12

Brooke McCarty

Senior

G

Texas

Big 12

Teaira McCowan

Junior

C

Mississippi State

SEC

Brittany McPhee

Senior

G

Stanford

Pac-12

Kelsey Mitchell

Senior

G

Ohio State

Big Ten

Jaime Nared

Senior

G

Tennessee

SEC

Kia Nurse

Senior

G

UConn

AAC

Arike Ogunbowale

Junior

G

Notre Dame

ACC

Mercedes Russell

Senior

C

Tennessee

SEC

Katie Lou Samuelson

Junior

G/F

UConn

AAC

Shakayla Thomas

Senior

F

Florida State

ACC

Victoria Vivians

Senior

G

Mississippi State

SEC

Gabby Williams

Senior

F

UConn

AAC

A'ja Wilson

Senior

F

South Carolina

SEC

The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.